Turn The Tables
by Kiwi McHearts
Summary: She liked him. He could barely stand her. He wanted her friend. She want his friend. It went like this for six years. Until the tables turned He fell in love with her. And She had dreams of him that made her smile of course, in each of them He was DEAD.
1. Yumi: The Day We Met

**I know, I know. A new story. Don't yell at me, please. I'm doing this so I can get ideas for my other stories. I usually make new stories when I can't update my other ones (for the time being)**

Anyway, Could It Be chap..9? Or is it 10? Whatever, the _**next**_** chapter is almost finished. I hope you like this story.**

It shouldn't be too long.

Facts about story: No Lyoko, No Xana. Yumi's in the same grade as all (Well, she isn't at firt…but yeah. You'll find out.). Won't be rating any higher. 

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**HER POV**

Oh. I remember him. I remember when he first moved to France. He lived right across the street from me. Yeah, I remember that. I also remember Aelita calling me every night about our new neighbor coming from…Germany? Was it?

You see, in my neighborhood- I had only four friends. And their names were: Aelita Hopper, Jeremie Belpois, William Dunbar, and Odd Della Robbia. Well, I guess you could call Odd my friend. Back then, I was pretty afraid of him. I mean, come on? What drug was he on? PURPLE HAIR? Hello! That's _not_ natural! Aelita's pink hair was from her mom's hair. And that's perfectly normal, but Odd's parents…one was brunette and the other was blonde. I think he dyed it.

Oh, I remember playing with a soccer ball, getting ready to train my baby sibling. You see, my mom was pregnant at the time. I was only in the 3rd grade. I didn't know if I was getting a baby sister or a baby brother. Either way- I was going to force them to like soccer.

But, oh boy, oh boy! I was hoping my neighbor would like soccer too! Jeremie didn't like it, and Odd didn't like me too much.

I remember waiting…and waiting…for weeks. _Literally_ weeks. I played soccer, hiding my real attempt to watch around for my neighbor's moving trucks- just incase they moved early.

Finally, one afternoon, on a Saturday, right after lunch, a loud honk outside. I jumped and ran up to the door, and looked out the hole (with the help of a chair, of course.)

"Mommy!" I cried, while clapping my hands excitedly, "The new neighbors are here! Can I go meet them?"

"Not right now darling." Mom called back, her voice muffled from the napkin cleaning her mouth. A hand on her growing stomach, "Let them be on their own, sweetie. I'd think they'd want to be on their own right now."

I grumbled and kicked my soccer ball across the living room, "Yes, mom. Can I use the phone?"

"Sure deary."

I quickly took the white phone and ran up to my room, going through my _journal_ (Not diary, thank you) for Aelita's new number. She said they change companies and they needed a new number. After pressing in the ten digit number, I waited and counted the rings. Hoping that I wasn't calling the wrong number. 

"Hello?"

"Hey-o!" I smiled and continued, "Mr. Hopper, is Aelita around?"

"Oh hello Yumi. Yes, she's right here." The phone was passed to my pink haired friend.

"Hello? Yumi?"

"Aelita! The new neighbor moved in! I'll be able to see her…or _him_, whatever, in a while. My mom doesn't want me going right now," I took a breath, "because she says they might want some time alone."

A slight shriek of glee came from the other end of the line, "Did you see the new kid?"

"No." I answered sadly, "But I will in a couple of minutes."

"Cool! Can I come over to your house so I can see him to?"

"Let me ask." I put the phone down on my mattress and skipped to the tip of the stairs, "MOMMY. CAN AELITA COME OVER?"

"For a little while, Yumi. You still need to clean your room." She ordered.

That was fine with my toddler mind! "Yes, Aelita! My mom said yes!"

"Yay! I'll be there in a few okay? Bye!"

"Bye!"

Ahh, life as a kid was good.

As soon as Aelita came over, we played a game of cards, and seeing that the new kid- uh the new _family_ had almost two hours to themselves, I asked my mom again if we could see them.

"Did you clean your room?"

"…A little." It was true! I cleaned the closet! Honest!

"You have fifteen minutes." She tapped her watch, "You dad and I will be there shortly, okay?"

_BANG_.

I closed the door. I was already up to the neighbor's side walk.

The truck still had boxes in it. A boy was sitting on it, red-faced and sweaty. Poor kid- he looked like he's been moving boxes for the past two _days_! 

"Hi!" Aelita called. He jumped up, and turned. Staring at us a bit. He didn't answer, but he waved. A 'I-said-hi-now-go-away' wave.

"Are you the kid from Germany?" I heard myself asked.

He nodded.

"Do you speak French?" Aelita questioned. The boy wasn't talking! Maybe he only spoke German!

"Yes, I speak French." He answered, looking at his shoes. Aww, he's shy, "It's just," He took a deep breath, "I'm very tired."

"Do you want help?" Aelita questioned.

"I don't think my dad would let you." He picked up a medium sized box, and walked away from us.

Aelita and I ran up to his sides, "Are you sure? Maybe you'd like it if we got you some juice?"

"Will you just _leave_ me _alone_?" He stopped to stare at Aelita and then move his eyes to me, "I'm busy. I'm tired. I'm hungry. I don't wanna talk!"

Aelita, being so sensitive, and never got yelled at, was on the verge of tears. I grabbed on to his sleeve- NO BODY makes Aelita cry, "Look what you did!" I pointed to Aelita, "You can a little _nice_ about it!"

"I said _leave me alone_." He repeated, shrugging my grip off him. He tried to escape, but I ran ahead and stopped him in his track, "What do you want?!"

"Say your sorry." I demanded, and pointed again to Aelita, "She never did anything to make you feel bad. Why would you make her cry? Stop being so mean! We just wanted to help!"

"You want to help?" He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, I nodded, "Then **leave me alone**!"

"Fine! You're just a jerk anyway!" Back in 2nd grade, Jerk was like…the worst insult. Of course, cute little 2nd graders didn't cuss…not back then anyway.

"I'M NOT A JERK."

"You're right." He smiled in victory, "You're a _big_ JERK."

"I'M NOT A JERK!" He put the box on the ground and came up to me, "I'M NO JERK."

"Yes you are. Now, leave me alone!" I pushed him away from me. He pushed me back. And before I knew it- we were tackling each other on the floor. Aelita wasn't crying anymore, but she looked hurt.

His mom came outside, probably for another box. She saw us attacking each other and screamed, "Ulrich Zeke Stern! What do you think you're doing!" She pulled him off of me. Hmm, his name's Ulrich…

"It wasn't my fault mommy!" He pouted, "_She_ called me a jerk, and pushed me!"

"You yelled at my friend and made her cry!" I shouted, and crossed my cute small arms.

"Say you're sorry, right _now_, Mister!" The lady told him.

"But mom—"

"RIGHT **NOW**, YOUNG MAN."

"I'm sorry." He mumbled, not even looking at me. Aelita walked up to him, "I'm sorry to you too." Aelita and I shared a look. We didn't hold grudges.

"Good, now, ladies. We have—"

"Um." I started, and the woman looked at me with a smile, "Uh, Ulrich, isn't it? Do you like soccer?"

His face lit up, "Yes. I like soccer."

"So, um. If you're not mad, do you want to play?"

Ulrich nodded happily, "Can I mom?"

"For a little while."

Ulrich and I went to my front yard. Aelita sat on my front porch, cheering for us. Mostly _me_, because I was the girl.

"Oh by the way, I'm Yumi. She's Aelita." 

"Oh. Right. You know…I'm Ulrich."

"Yeah." I grabbed the soccer ball from the bushes.

After about ten minutes or so, Ulrich and I were tuckered out, "Thanks for playing with me. After, you know, I was so mean to you." He said.

I smiled and Aelita joined me, "You're welcome. Will we see you in school tomorrow?"

"You sure will!" He waved to me and Aelita and ran back to his house.

That was the day, I'd never forget. That was the day I met him. Although it was a little shaky at first, it was worth it in the end.

I, Yumi Ishiyama, was never the one to be nervous around boys. I mean, please, come on. It was in my nature. I was _never_ shy around boys.

But when _my_ boys, met _him_. Well, that was a different story.

"Hello." William greeted him with a cute smile. Ulrich only nodded at him. I could already tell- Ulrich and William were not going to get along.

William and I- we were in the 3rd grade, and Ulrich, Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita- they were in the 2nd. I was waiting for the second semester. The semester of fun times! Everyone was getting ready for the summer- months in advance.

Jeremie smiled and Ulrich as he just stared at him, and at Odd, he pointed and laughed hysterically, "Do you have paint in your hair? It's _purple_! What a silly color!"

"Hey!" He shouted in his defense, "Purple is a really cool color, thank you. By the way, I'm Odd. Real name, too. That's William, and Jeremie."

The new German nodded with some left over chuckles skipped out of his lungs.

Now that Ulrich was wearing something different than just shorts and a greasy shirt, I could see he was very fit, like he never ate or something. And… I don't why I didn't realize it before, but his eyes… They were…like sea foam green. My _favorite_ color- other than black, of course.

I found myself staring at him. And shook my head, trying to shake out those crush-like images out of my head.

Back then, I had only one crush. That, my friends, was William. Of course, I never told him. Because then (and now) boys would/will take it too far, so I kept my mouth shut and just broke my heart by telling everyone William and I were just friends.

But, at this point, the crush was fading, very quickly. Everything I once liked about William, was Ulrich. Ulrich's hair, Ulrich's eyes, Ulrich's clothes, Ulrich's speech.

Did I tell you he had an accent? Oh, my! It was _so_ cute! William had an English accent, and Ulrich had this adorable German accent! Sometimes, it was hard to understand him because of his accent, but I loved it- none of the less.

The bell rang, sending us to homeroom.

Don't you remember those days? Back then, the classes you had were: Homeroom, Math, Reading, and Intergraded Curriculum. William and I had Homeroom together. Homeroom was just like a forty-five minute class that let you get everything together, and even do some last minute homework. We had warm ups. It was usually something about life. A Quote and a few pages out of the book we read at this time… I believe it was _Double Fudge._ But I don't remember.

Anyway, William sat next to me, and during our warm-up, he whispered to me, "I need a pencil, Yumi." I gave him my pencil and got out my other pencil, "Do you like that Ulrich kid?"

"Like? How _like_? Like…_like_ like? Or just…like."

"like, just _like_. Like…do you…think he's cool?" William questioned.

"Mmm Hmm. He plays soccer." William nodded and made an 'Ahh' sound as I continued, "Too bad he's way to shy though."

William kept nodding, "Yeah, I think so too."

"William! Are you done with your warm-up?"

"No."

"No _what_?"

"…No, ma'am."

Ahh. How I wish I could relive these days.

But, no. Life went on, and we were walking into the doors of the last year at my elementary school. 6th grade, here I come! It was the beginning of this year, and my older "friends" people (from camp…long story) said this was the year people actually 'went out' with each other.

I got nervous.

What if a boy asked me out? What was I supposed to do? What if I didn't want to go out with him? Well, I mean, I'd say _no_. But, I don't want to be mean. Is there a nice way of saying that? What if my friends get mad if I have a boyfriend? What if Aelita gets a boyfriend first? And just _why_ am I so nervous about _boyfriends_?

By this time- Everyone had gotten to Ulrich- except William, that is. And my camp friend- Jenna, who just happened to go to my school without me knowing. She had just met him, but she seemed to think he was a nice person.

William refused to talk to Ulrich altogether. When I asked why, he said "He's a whole year younger, Yumi. This can ruin our '6th grade' image!"

Yeah, and since when did he care about popularity?

Jenna and I headed off to Science class. William stormed off to P.E. Which, he had with Ulrich. I laughed in my mind. I wanted to know what he had to report everyday during 2nd class- History.

And everyday, it was the same- "Ulrich's such a showoff. He wants to show off to the girls, Yumi. He's bad news." I sware, sometimes, I even said it with him.

That wasn't true.

William was never really the sports kinda guy. I mean, he was good, but he wasn't _goooood_. He played, and he did well, but there's a difference between well and…Ulrich-like.

How did I figure this out?

Well, I believe the conversation went like this:

"Hey, Yumi!" Ulrich stopped me in the cafeteria, "Soccer practice is after school today, are you going to try out?"

I shook my head, "My parents say no after school activities until I get an A in all my classes. Japanese heritage." 

"Aww, that stinks." He looked down at the ground, "Do you…want to come anyway? And…watch me? You know, I could really use someone to cheer me on! Odd's going to be there too."

Still, even three years later, Odd and I weren't the best of friends. In fact, I believe it was worse now that Ulrich came. We'd fight for his attention, sometimes. This made Odd and I almost rivals. I was _not_ going to let that purple haired toothpick take _my_ friend away.

"Sure." I shrugged. I also heard that William was trying out too. Ahh, three boys to cheer on. I guess that won't make William mad at me. I told him I was going to come for him anyway, I can say it was just coincidence that Ulrich and Odd were there, and I just merely cheered them for good luck.

It was the perfect plan.

Ulrich smiled as he walked away, to sit with his _fifth_ grade friends.

I went to my way, to sit with my _sixth_ grade friends.

I couldn't get those green eyes out of my mind.

SIXTH GRADERS TO NOT LIKE FIFTH GRADERS. It's the unwritten_ law_— not rule, of the sixth grade.

In fact, I believe it was this for all years. No tenth grader could like a ninth grader. No ninth grader could like an eighth grader.

Oh well, looks like I'm about to break the _law._ Better not say that out loud!

NOW, before you guys go crazy: All I'm saying is that I like his _eyes_. Okay?! JUST THE EYES.

He's not my _crush_. He's my _friend._

Even if everytime his name is called I get butterflies in my stomach. Even if I want to talk to him, I get a lump in my throat. Even if I want a handshake from him, and my palms get sweaty.

Even if- OH. DON'T GIVE ME THAT SMILE.

Hey, what do you know anyway?! 


	2. Ulrich: The Cold Shoulder

**Okay. First few chapters will be short, it's just to like introduce you to some characters and their attitudes and stuff. Once I think I got that down, the actual fun parts begin! **_****_

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HIS POV**

If I had one wish, it would be for Yumi Ishiyama to _leave me alone_. Do you know how annoying she is? She didn't leave me alone for a second. She almost clang onto me. It's a social disaster.

If I could live my life all over again, I would've made sure Mom kept her job in Germany- Urrg! I'm telling you, I can't stand the girl!

It all started the day I moved in. As if being in a whole different country wasn't enough, I _had_ to meet the weirdest girls on the planet. I mean, they just walk up to our moving truck and start doing stuff.

Couldn't they see I wasn't in the mood to talk? I was pretty ticked as it was- I mean, why did we move again? Oh, cuz my mom's just retarded and wanted to ruin my life.

Well, mom- MISSION COMPLETED.

And no, it wasn't the whole _moving_ thing. It was the whole _she's my neighbor_ thing. Can I tell you how awkward that was? I mean, I'm glad she calls me her 'friend' and all, but she pretty much stalked me that year, and the year after that, and halfway through next.

6th grade, (for her) and 5th grade for me- The whole world turned on me. Yumi, she…um. How can I say this? She didn't seem to want to hang around with me anymore. At first, I didn't care. Isn't that what I wanted in the first place? But no, after weeks of me trying just to see if she wasn't mad at me. And that meant a smile or a wave, even a "Good morning" she never waved back, never smiled, not even a nod to let me know she knows I'm still here.

THAT, my friends, got annoying.

I don't care if she wants to be mean, no; she can go and do that the rest of her life. But, you see- _I_ for one don't like being ignored like that. Insult me, yeah whatever. Talk trash, be my guest. But you do _not_ ignore me.

You know what got me to this temper? When I asked the others about it.

"What?" Aelita cocked her head to the side, "She isn't talking to you? Are you serious? We've been hanging out almost every day after school."

"Same here." Jeremie nodded, "While, we worked on homework together the past few nights." He fixed his glasses slightly.

I glared at Odd, "I talk to her, but I wouldn't call us friends. Although, I did go with Jer once to her house for homework."

Oh. Is that how she wanted to play? Ignore me? What in god's name did I do?! Middle school must _suck_.

Soon, a face I didn't want to see came up to me in the hallways, "Ulrich. I need to tell you something."

"Whatever, William. I have to get to class." I fibbed. Honestly, I was about to go to Odd to complain about Yumi until I was fifteen minutes late to class.

"No, Ulrich! It's important! It's about Yumi. Come on." I didn't stop walking. I don't wanna hear it. He actually _physically_ pulled me back to him and twirled me around. Dang, why couldn't I be tall? "Yumi's been acting very strange lately- What have you done to her?"

"Me?" HA! The poor sucker thinks it's _me_! "I haven't talked to her in weeks!" My notebook in my hands- ready for homeroom.

"Well, she seems down. I talked to Jenna, Kyle, and Natalie. They all say she's been talking to them."

"Who now?" Who were these people?!

"Oh, her other _sixth_ grade friends." William sneered "sixth" in my face. What? I'm not jealous or anything. Come on dude, you're just ticked that I beat you in soccer. Forty- eight times.

"Yeah, okay. You figure out what's wrong since you're with her. You know, being a _sixth_ grade friend. I'll step back." I ignored his glare, "Have a good day, there, William!"

Ohh, I hate that guy.

Now, I do think I met Jenna once before. Oh, she was _pretty_. She's Sweden, I think. Red hair down to her shoulders, in layers, and freckles across her nose and cheeks. Oh, and…and her blue eyes. And her accent!

Yeah, um. I believe I met her.

Unfortunately, I made it to class on time. And sat bored to my own mind in class. But one sentence grabbed my attention:

"Students, we're going to have a sixth grade helper with us for the rest of this semester. They will be different people every two weeks. It's for a project, that you guys will get to do next year!" Mrs. Julie told us.

Sixth grade? Like…Yumi's grade?

And sure enough: you-know-who came walking in, her head held high with a binder in her hands. She sat down at the circular table at the front. 

I tapped my hand on the table to catch her attention. I waved when she looked at me. She looked straight at me, and looked back at Mrs. Julie. OH NO SHE DIDN'T. I felt like getting up and confronting her about our feud then and there, but come on. Embarrassing to her _and_ me!

I knew I must've done something really bad. William- well, that's not too hard to believe. He _is_ a loser. But, come on. Me? I barely said eight sentences to her the past twenty-four days! She had no reason to be like the way she is right now.

But, buddy, let me tell you- Girls do _not_ need an explanation for mood swings. I learned that to hard way.

Anyway, I tried in different ways to get her attention, just to let her know I was sorry for whatever I did. I tried whistling, fumbling with papers, even acting like a know-it-all. All it got me was a stare. A _cold, icy, hate _stare. 

When the bell rang and we went to our next class- I stopped her in the hallways, "Are you okay?" I asked her carefully. Afraid I might make her upset.

She smiled at me (for once) but said nothing- just walked away, and didn't look back.

Okay? Was that progress? I mean, she _did_ smile at me. But did she do that just so I'd leave her alone? I mean, she didn't _say_ anything, so how could I know if she didn't like it or not?

I tried to ignore it. So what if she was mad at me? Not like I cared. But it really got to me in P.E. Wonder why? Because _Kyle_ and _William_ was in my P.E. class that year. And they wouldn't stop talking about her!

"Dude, I sware, I don't know what she's mad about." Kyle would say that over and over again, but it's like William didn't believe him.

He snarled, "Well, there's a reason she's avoiding me. I have no idea what I freaking did!" I took stretching time to listen up on them closer.

"I bet it's something with those fifth grade friends of hers." William continued. Hatred rung in his voice like a bell on Independence Day, "Those kids are so freaking _stupid_!"

"Ahh, man. Don't talk like that. We're only a year older than them. Probably not even that. They're not stupid, we just already learned everything that they're learning now." THANK YOU, KYLE.

William stayed quiet, "Did I miss her birthday?"

"No. It's coming up, though."

"Hmm. Did I miss something—anything—important to her?"

"HECK, I don't know!"

The coach eyed them suspiciously, "Boys, settle down." He said. I would've slapped William across the face. My god- I'm _not_ stupid!

"Oh, but it's not _all_ the little kids that annoy me." William started yakking again, "It's that Ulrich kid." _Me?_ Holy cow! I never did anything to you! "He's been crushing on her and all and—"

"You're jealous because someone else is showing their affection for _your_ woman." Kyle finished for him, "William, I can't believe how blind you are. For one, she _used_ to be like…in love with you. Now, she isn't. I think she got sick of waiting. Besides, Yumi's going to have a lot of boys after her, anyway. I mean, she's pretty, and she's smart, and nice, and funny." He pushed William playfully a little, "Besides, let Ulrich crush on her. It's not like she likes him back, not like _that_ anyway."

William shrugged, "Oh well. But, I sware, if she starts to talking to Ulrich and isn't talking to me- I'll shoot that kid."

"OKAY BOYS AND GIRLS—"

Okay, over all: I already knew William hated me since day one. He just had that glow to him. Like he's evil or something. I have a new appreciation for Kyle- the dude's amazing. He stood up for me and my friends. Although he said I had no chance with Yumi…

HEY. HEY. I'm saying if I _wanted_ her, I could've gotten her. I didn't say I liked her. Mind you, people.

What else? Oh right. William can't play soccer at _all_! Oh my god! It was so funny! You should've seen it! The idiot was running in all different directions, slipped a hundred and ten times and even made a goal for the other team! I couldn't _breathe_! I was laughing too hard!

HA- I bet he feels like a jerk now. A _little kid_ beat you!

Anyway, I was in _no_ mood for math class. By joves, I hate that class! It's rules upon rules that make no dang sense! But, yeah, I could think of a few other things I'd rather not do during school, school being one of them.

I tried hard not to think about Yumi and her cold shoulder- but it just keep bugging me.  
_  
Was it something I said? Did I forget something? Did someone tell her something I said about her? Why is she ignoring me like this? Why can't she tell me what I did so I can fix it? Why?_

I mean, you know it feels when _friends_ are mad at _other friends_, don't you?

H 


	3. Yumi: The Turning Point

I have nothing to say

**Sorry for the long periods of like, no updating. I'm seriously busy, and when I'm not- I have a **_**serious**_** case of writer's block. And we all know—that isn't fun. /  
­--**

I have nothing to say.

…

OKAY! I give! I'll tell you! I know that William and Ulrich are feuding, so I came up with this idea.

What if I didn't talk to them until they started getting along? I could think of a few things that could happen- and not really in a good way. But I was willing to do anything to make my two _guy friends_ to be friends.

I know, this idea sounds kinda… childish. But, girls like me have to stoop down to boy's level, am I right?

So, to even take my plan further- I signed up for this school helper thing, called STOP, or- _Students Thinking of Peers_. And guess what? I found out that I'll be a helper for Ulrich's class for two weeks. HA. I GOT HIM RIGHT WHERE I WANT HIM.

"You know, by next year, he'll be stuck here, and we'll be in Middle School." Jenna pointed out, "So what does it matter if he and William are being jerks?"

"William's a jerk to almost every boy I talk to." I sneered. Back at my house, I had invited Aelita and Jenna to come over for a girl's night. I just love sleep-overs. Aelita was still packing, so Jenna and I were in my room, talking about the situation at hand.

Jenna smirked, "Don't you think that's a coincidence? Maybe… oh, I don't know—William… have a crush on you?"

I felt my cheeks turn pink, "_Crush_? He's my friend. There's a difference."

"So? Friends become boyfriend and girlfriend all the time. You know, like Carly and James, and Kevin and Anne. Happens all the time."

The door bell rang once more, and I shot downstairs to answer the door before my parents could walk out of their room with my two-year-old baby brother, "AELITA!"

"Yumi! Hey!" She and I glomped in the hallway and ran upstairs, "By the way, I saw Ulrich looking out his window into your room."

"… Why? My window isn't even—" When he stepped inside, we saw what Ulrich was trying to look at, "JENNA? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Oh, nothing." She quickly turned, and smiled sweetly at me, "Just trying to see if Ulrich can read is all. Apparently, the idiot can't."

"Duh, he's a boy. Cut him some slack." Aelita added.

"Gimme the paper." I instructed, of course- I didn't get it just by words. So after a quick wrestling match between Aelita, Jenna, and I- I had finally became victorious.

_William likes Yumi; but Yumi likes you._

"I DO NOT LIKE HIM." I screamed, absolutely furious, "I would tell you who I had a crush on."

Aelita sat up, dusting off her pink dress, "Maybe so. But William _defiantly _likes you. No doubt about it. He's been asking everyone to see if he can get them to talk to you for him. I happen to think it's cute."

"I beg to differ. Like the way Jeremie likes _you_?" When I retorted this answer to her, Aelita looked away and sighed.

"At least she talks to him." Jenna added.

Aelita took the phone in my room, and shoved it to my face, "Call William, talk to him. He's acting like he's going to blow up if you don't."

"Fine, fine." I took the phone from Aelita, before she could shove it down my throat, and dialed the memorized number I knew as William's, "Hello? Mrs. Dunbar? Is William there? Yeah, it's Yumi. I want to talk to him for a second."

"Put it on speaker!" Jenna nudged me and I did. 

At the worst time ever. For William's mom shouted, "WILLIAM, dear! Your girlfriend, Yumi, is on the phone and wants to talk to you."

"Yep, you see? Even his mom knows." Aelita smiled.

"Hello?" William answered, "Yumi? Why aren't you talking to me at school?"

Instead of answering him I asked, "Why do you hate Ulrich?"

"Hate him- I don't hate him. He's just… annoying. You always to play with him, and not me. I feel like… we're not friends any more."

"He's jealous." Aelita whispered, "He wants you to play with him more than Ulrich; to know you care about him more than Ulrich."

"No, I'm not jealous." William replied, "I can hear you, Aelita. I guess I'm on speaker or something. But, for sure, I'm _not_ jealous. Ulrich just seems like a bad kid. Besides, he's younger than us."

"HEY," Aelita shouted, "I'm younger than you, is that a bad thing?"

"Oh, oh, no, Aelita. Not you." William quickly tried to correct himself, "It's just- younger _boys_ are worse than younger _girls_."

"Whatever." Jenna spat.

"Is this the only reason you called me?"

Well, if I were honest; I'd say I didn't really want to call him at all, and that Jenna and Aelita had forced me to- but that'd be mean, and I don't want him to think that I suddenly don't like him (as a friend!) anymore. And if I'm not honest; I need to think of an excuse- and fast.

Well, honesty is key…

"Um, no. I wanted to see if you could come over; and bring Kyle; we can go swimming."

…Too bad I'm such a liar.

"Um, okay!" William's tone completely changed, "I'll call him, okay? We'll be over at your house in like fifteen minutes, okay?"

"Okay, okay! See you later!" I pushed the 'end' button and looked at Aelita. She had a devilish smile on her face. Which is kinda scary for a 5th-grader.

"You have one more person to call."

"I do?"

"Yes." She stole the phone from me, ran downstairs (probably to get the school directory), and when she came back up, the only thing I could hear was, "—my friend, Yumi wants to talk to him." She, once again, threw the phone at my face and smiled.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hello?" He replied.

"… Oh, hey Ulrich." I glared at Aelita. 

I'm _so_ killing her after this.

_--_

"Why'd he have to bring Della-Robbia?" I whined when Ulrich showed up with Jeremie and Odd, "That kid hates me."

"He doesn't hate you." Jenna patted my shoulder, "He's just one of those weird kids."

I nodded and giggled, "Yeah, he sure is a weird kid; Who in the right mind has a purple dot in their hair?" The back-gate then jiggled, but didn't open. Kyle hopped over our fence and shouted, "Party-men are here!"

"MEN?" Jenna, Aelita, and I shouted back at the same time- completely on accident, and we laughed a little, "6th grade isn't _men._"

William was next over the fence, "Well, in the 5th grade, we were addressed as _boys and girls_, now, we're addressed as _ladies and gentlemen._"

Ulrich's head popped up from the water, after Odd had tried tackling him in the water.

"What are _you _doing here?" William growled.

"Yumi invited me. I'm guessing, since she's not calling the cops; she did the same to you?" Ulrich answered smartly, and dived back in the water.

William rolled his eyes and dropped his towel and flipflops on a chair next to the little hottub thing- which is what the girls and I were in.

"Ladies…" Kyle hopped inside, jokingly flirting with us, "Sup?"

We all splashed him.

"Hey, hey Yumi! Watch this!" William called out, so I lazily looked up, to see William had _somehow_ got on the ceiling of my house, about to jump off into the pool.

"No! William! Don't! You could hurt yourself!" I shouted back to him, but of course- being a stubborn boy, he didn't listen to me, and jumped off, landing in the pool—except for his left foot.

"OH SNAP." Jenna shouted, "WILLIAM?!"

Kyle and I and the other girls quickly ran up to see if William was okay. Jeremie, Ulrich, and Odd were walking closer to him from the pool. We noticed he wasn't moving, but breathing, and the three boys in the pool had pushed him up.

I ran inside to get mom, and she came back with me, "Oh dear. It looks like he broke his foot." She declared, "Let me call his parents, and then I'll call for the medical services."

"Well, that was _really_ stupid of him." Ulrich was the first to say something, "How'd he get on the roof anyway?"

"I have no idea." Jenna answered.

I, however, was holding back tears. If I had just been honest to him and said that was all I wanted to talk about, he wouldn't be in this situation.

"I don't get it." Odd started, "How did he pass out if he broke his _foot_?"

Jeremie, the 5th grade genius explained, "Well, the human body can be severely shocked- so with the impact from the cement on his foot, and the pain up his body, and the impact of the water on the rest of his body, could've sent his body in shock. Resulting in blacking out."

Mr. and Mrs. Dunbar quickly ran in from the back gate, "Oh my god! Is he okay?!"

"He passed out." Kyle answered, "Mrs. Ishiyama thinks he broke his foot."

"Oh, okay." Mr. Dunbar quickly picked up his son, "I'm sorry to say, but this little play-dates over."

"Yeah, we're going to go home too." Odd said quietly.

Kyle was quick to follow the Dunbars out, and the other guys just got their stuff and left.

The girls and I silently walked back into my room.

"Well, that went just great, don't you think?" 


	4. Ulrich: The Movie

**Again, I am so sorry about my delay in updating. School is eating me up. No one told me highschool was so busy!**

--

He _did_ break his foot.

Of course, the guy didn't tell me himself, and I heard it from Sarah, who heard it from Natatlie, who heard it from Aelita, who heard it from Jenna, who heard it from Jeremie, who heard it from Yumi, who _got it_ from William's parents.

Note to self: Word gets around school _fast._

He wasn't at school the following Monday. But on Tuesday, he had returned. His foot was covered in white-bandages and he was limping with his crutches to his classes. Kyle and Yumi usually switched off helping him to classes, unless all three had that one class together.

When I saw them in the hallways, William usually gave me a victory glare. Like, he was boasting that he broke his foot and more people cared about him.

DUDE. You're injured. People aren't gonna ignore you.

"I'm worried about him." Yumi muttered when she sat down at our table. Kyle and William were sitting with some unknown other sixth grade boys, and Jeremie had made Yumi promise to sit with us today, "It's like he doesn't care at all that his foot like... exploded."

Jeremie laughed, "He's just trying to impress you. Or other girls. Trying to look strong, and not have a weak point."

Then, Yumi laughed, "He's bloody scared of spiders. I know his weak point."

Aelita popped in, next, setting her tray next to Yumi, "So, how is he doing anyway?"

"Overall, he's okay. He's on like a bazillion painkillers though." Yumi answered quietly. She stirred her food around her plate, or at least, the little that was on her plate.

I knew something was troubling her, and I gently stated, "Yumi. Why do you look so down? It's not like it's your fault." She gave me a stare, told me to shut up, and looked back at her food.

After that, the table went silent.

"So, anyway..." I tried to create conversation, "What was that thing Jenna was trying to show me out the window a couple days before?"

"Oh," Aelita and Yumi shared a look. Aelita looked like she was going to burst out laughing, and Yumi looked like she wanted to die, "Nothing." They both stated.

"I know it wasn't nothing. She kept pointing to me, and then pointing to the paper. What did it say?"

Yumi's frown quickly jumped to a sly smile, "It was a paper. It said 'I like you'."

That got my attention, "Who? You or Jenna?"

"Her." She answered sternly, like there was no possible way she could ever like me a million years, "Why she likes you, I don't really know. But she does. How does it feel to have an older girl crush on you?"

I squirmed, "Weird. Doesn't she have cooties?"

Odd screamed. And I mean _screamed_. I thought it was Aelita at first, till I saw Odd fall to the ground. He choked on his potato for a second, and then came back up, "Cooties! Eww! She hasn't had her cootie shot yet?!"

Aelita rolled her eyes. Yumi sighed, "Um... everyone gets their... _shots_... before they... uhh... go on to 6th grade."

Jeremie's eyes became owl eyes, "Do you mean _I_ have to have the cootie shot before _I_ go into the 6th grade?"

Yumi looked at Aelita, who nodded, "Uh, yeah."

Jeremie sank in his seat, "I hate needles."

Odd jumped up, "Needles are _awesome!_ They poke you and stuff comes out! WHOA. What if like, they poke you, and brownies came out? Wouldn't that be awesome? OR OR, Cookies? OR ICE-CREAM."

"I hate needles because they hurt." Jeremie explained.

Odd sneered, "Jeremie, you're such a girl."

"Oooh." I started, "Bad idea."

"ODD DELLA-ROBBIA." Yumi yelled at the top of her lungs. She then said some weird stuff in this language none of us knew, but we had a feeling it wasn't very nice.

Aelita pushed his shoulder a bit, "Yeah! What Yumi said!"

"Yeah-- What did you say?"

Yumi sat back down from her rage, "... Nothing."

"AGAIN WITH THE NOTHING."

"ODD! I will spork you in the eye!"

**XxX**

I went back to Ms. Julie's class because we had a certain movie to watch that day. Sixth graders said they "pity us" and to "not listen" and that it's "totally weird, dude" so I'm kinda scared about it.

"Boys and girls. Mr. Dunkle will be here soon to take the boys in a different room."

... Oh no.

It can't be.

It's... _The Movie._

Awkward slipped into the room as we knew we were about to watch the most weirdest movie of our innocent, young lives.

After we left, and went into another room. We kinda talked for like, fifteen minutes, and then we got yelled at to hush up.

"Boys! BOYS!" Mr. Dunkle yelled, "As you know, your parents signed a certain paper at the very beginning of the year; they want you to learn about your _body changes._ We have a little movie we'd like to show you, and then, at the end, we'll pass around a question bucket-" He held it up to show us the green basket full with slips of paper and pencils, "and then Mr. Smith and I will talk to you about it. You do not have to write your name. Then, after that, you boys get a bag of candy!"

Mr. Smith, the principal, put the tape in the TV.

And my worst nightmares began...

"Boys, your body changes are one-hundred percent natural..."

**XxX**

"Dude..." Odd whispered to me, "Growing up _sucks!_ I'm never gonna grow up! I'm gonna stay a kid fah-evah!!"

"Any questions, boys?" Mr. Dunkle asked us, and then clapped his hands, "Do you understand all of it? I know, I know. It's pretty gross and weird to you now, but we don't want you to worry about it in the future. If you're really just too embarrassed to admit a question, you should go to your dad after school and ask him, alright?"

We nodded.

"Candy time?" Some kid in the back asked.

Mr. Dunkle confirmed, "Yes, it's candy time."

_--_

"Ulrich... Aelita..." Yumi murmured when she, Jenna, Aelita, and I were walking back home together, "You two look like you guys saw a ghost or something. What's up?"

"I didn't see a ghost." Aelita answered, "... Worse."

"We had _The Movie_, today." I explained, "It was so weird."

Yumi giggled, "Yeah, I didn't really enjoy that either. It's seems so weird and stuff, I can't believe it actually going to happen to us."

"Please, I don't want to think about it." Aelita stopped her from going into unnecessary detail.

"So, like, what did they teach you, Ulrich? I'm sure there isn't as much _change_ to a boys body than a girl's." Yumi asked me.

"It's... a weird situation, Yumi."

Jenna giggled, "Did they teach you about _boners_?!"

Yumi smacked Jenna in the shoulder for that, "Hush, Jenna. He's an innocent young boy. Don't corrupt his mind."

"Pssh. No." I answered, although I really had no idea what Jenna was talking about, "Anyway, I wish I had an older friend that would help me understand all of this."

"You and Kyle or William should talk more. Having older friends like that can really help you." Yumi answered, "That's why Jenna and I go to Jasper Middle School ever Friday after school, so we can see Kelly, the seventh grader we know."

"Yeah, she says seventh grade's really hard." Jenna told Yumi.

She brushed off the comment, "We're smart, pretty girls, Jenna. We'll make it through, I know it."

"So, anything fun happen to you guys today?" Aelita asked.

Yumi sighed- the annoyed sigh, "No. I had to walk around with my books and William's books half the day today. That boy is really driving me crazy."

"I'm sorry." I apologized.

"Don't be." She smiled at me, "It's not your fault. William's just a jerk."

"Yeah, it was his stupid fault to jump off the roof." Jenna added on.

"Still, you can't help but feel sorry for him."

"...Yeah..."

We split up to go to our houses.

"Welcome home, son!" Dad welcomed me, "Your mother went shopping. So it's a boy's evening! Where do you wanna go? Want some icecream?"

"...No."

"Maybe a hot-dog?"

I gagged, "No."

"Um. The candy store?" I held up my bag of candy to say 'No', "Hey, where'd you get that?"

"We had the movie today about our changing bodies or whatever. The only way to keep us calm about it was to bribe us with candy." I answered.

He grinned, "Ooh, not just any movie. **The** movie, right?" I nodded, "Oh, well, no wonder you didn't want to go get a hot-dog. How about we go and play some soccer together on the other side of town, okay?"

"Alrighy!" I jumped to the kitchen to get two water bottles as Dad ran upstairs to fetch the soccer ball.

As we got settled in the car, I found my time to talk to him.

"Dad...?"

"Yeah, Ulrich?"

I paused for a minute, "What's a boner?" 


End file.
